Last December we shared the story of Team MechFly - a group of Mechanical Engineering students from the National University of Singapore who, using equipment provided by element14, were hoping to develop a lightweight Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) to compete in the Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition.

We're happy to report that the team were successful in taking their design to the competition, where they were awarded the Championship Prize in the category of Unconventional Design - netting a cash prize of $3,500 for the NUS Department of Mechanical Engineering.

element14 provided essential components provided tools including soldering equipment, cutting devices and essential components from brands such as MultiComp, Duratool and Tenma to help the team to design and build the Mechfly, which weighed in at just 29 grams and utilised a flapping wing mechanism to fly with enough control and stability to successfully complete a mission scenario demonstration which included navigating several obstacles, collecting a spilled chemical sample using an attached cotton bud and releasing a neutralizing agent using a mounted needle and some balloons.

Next up, the team is planning to conduct a two day workshop at the Faculty of Engineering in collaboration with the NUS Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) Team, where they hope to raise further interest in flight vehicles among NUS Engineers. They will also continue to work on improving the performance of the Mechfly by employing further wight-reducing techniques and attempting to reduce the size of the platform.

"We are thankful that Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles and the ingenuity of their flight mechanism have received more recognition by defense officials and the general public over the years" said team leader Glenvicia Sim Hui Xian. "This would not have been possible without the resources of the NUS Mechanical Engineering department and the generous support of our sponsors. We hope they continue to be involved in this project for years to come."